lawandorderfandomcom-20200223-history
Ridicule
The case of a young woman who apparently died during an erotic asphyxiation accident, leads Detectives Benson and Stabler to a male rape victim. Summary Andrew Green finds his ex-wife, Sydney’s body hanging from the ceiling fan in her bedroom. With Dr. Warner away at a conference, the assistant M.E. Justin believes that Sydney died from autoerotic asphyxiation. Andrew tells Detectives Stabler and Benson that he and Sydney divorced two weeks ago after being married for only six months. The detectives look at the visitor log at Green's apartment and discover that her friends: Pam Adler (a former criminal defense attorney) and Amelia Chase visited Sydney the day she died. When Stabler and Benson talk to Pam Adler, Adler says that she and Amelia Chase had a lunch date with Green, but Green decided not to go because she was depressed about her recent marital problems and wanted to be alone. When Munch and Fin talk to Chase, she tells them that Green was a risk taker and also into kinky sex which including choking herself. The detectives discover that Sydney and Andrew Green were broke, but thanks to Sydney’s life insurance, Andrew would inherit $50,000, but because of a premarital agreement, he would’ve received nothing in a divorce. When Stabler and Benson interrogate Andrew, Andrew reveals that he didn’t meet Sydney on vacation, but in rehab for painkiller addiction. They were fighting because Sydney was using again and during her bachelorette party, Sydney and two friends raped a male stripper. When Benson and Stabler talk to the stripper from Green's bachelorette party, Peter Smith, the stripper denies killing Green and his alibi clears. The assistant M.E. officially rules Sydney’s death accidental, but the detectives are investigating Smith's rape. Stabler does not seem to believe Smith story because Smith is a man. When Smith tells his story to the detectives, he says that one woman told him when he threatened to call the cops: “What you know about the law won’t fit in the palm of my hand.” The detectives discover that Pam Adler was one of the women that raped Smith and believes that Amelia Chase was also involved as well. When Smith identifies Adler and Chase in a line-up, they are arrested. Adler's attorney, Carolyn Maddox wants the judge to dismiss the charges against Adler because the law is unconstitutional when it comes to women raping men, but the judge turns her down and the trial proceeds. During the trial, Adler approached Smith for cross-examination. The prosecution objects, but the judge says that since Adler is an attorney, she cannot legally block her from running her own defense. When Adler cross-examines Smith, she asks him if he filed a civil lawsuit for $5,000,000 against Sydney Green. Smith says that he did, but he only wanted the names. When the prosecution asks Smith why he didn’t mention the civil suit in the first place, Smith says that Stabler has been on his back looking for a reason to drop his case and says if he told about the suit, Stabler would have thought that Smith just wanted money. Since the police would not help Smith, he filed the suit against Green in order to get the names of the two other women that raped him. Smith also says that Green called his attorney to set up a meeting before her death. Her husband did not know about the civil suit, but Adler had a copy of it while Green was alive. Green told Adler and Chase about it, telling them that she was giving into Smith's demand. Stabler thinks that Adler and Chase killed Green, but Green's death was ruled accidental, but with Dr. Warner back from her conference, the detectives decide to take another look at how Green really died. When Stabler and Benson visit Green's crime scene with Dr. Warner, Dr. Warner believes that someone who is a practicing autoerotic staged Green's bedroom. The three of them believe that Adler and Chase went over to Green's apartment after she told them she was giving in to Smith’s demand in order to save her failing marriage. One of them tied a rope around Green's neck and choked her to death. Then, the ropes were tied to the fan to make it look like Green had accidentally hung herself. When Benson examines the ceiling fan, she discovers that there are fingerprints around the fan. The fingerprints around the fan match Amelia Chase. It’s discovered that Chase is a practicing autoerotic and wears lots of turtlenecks and scarves to cover up the bruising around her neck. Chase takes a deal to testify against Adler, but Maddox twists Chase's testimony to Adler's advantage. At the end of the trial, Adler is convicted of third-degree assault, but acquitted on the remaining charges. When Adler and Maddox leave the courtroom, the detectives arrest Adler for the murder of Sydney Green. Adler proclaims that she will be acquitted of this charge, while Alex (knowing that all the evidence obtained will convict Adler) and Maddox begin discussing a plea bargain. Cast Main cast * Christopher Meloni as Detective Elliot Stabler * Mariska Hargitay as Detective Olivia Benson * Richard Belzer as Detective John Munch * Stephanie March as A.D.A. Alexandra Cabot * Ice-T as Detective Odafin Tutuola * Dann Florek as Captain Donald Cragen Recurring cast * Dianne Wiest as D.A. Nora Lewin * Tamara Tunie as M.E. Melinda Warner * Joanna Merlin as Judge Lena Petrovsky * Leslie Ayvazian as Judge Susan Valdera * Ron Leibman as Executive A.D.A. Stan Villani * B.D. Wong as Dr. George Huang * CCH Pounder as Defense Attorney Carolyn Maddox Guest cast * Paige Turco as Pam Adler * Diane Neal as Amelia Chase * Pete Starrett as Peter Smith * Joe Narciso as Assistant Medical Examiner Justin * Andrew Heckler as Andrew Green * Brian Corrigan as Assistant District Attorney * David Adkins as Defense Attorney Barry Fordes * Patrick Quinn as Milo Walther * Natalie Light as Beth * Kimberly Hughes as Amelia's Assistant * Crista Moore as Mandy Guevere * Leo Lungaro as Jury Foreman * John Hartmann as Arraignment Clerk References autoerotic asphyxiation; Narcotics Anonymous; Adler, Klein; Adler, Rose; Goldman-Sachs; NYU Drama; People vs. Liberte; People vs. Hightower; Smith vs. Adler Quotes Background information and notes * Actress Diane Neal makes her first appearance in an episode from Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. She returned in the fifth season episode "Serendipity" as a regular cast member, playing A.D.A. Casey Novak. In this episode she plays the female rapist, Amelia Chase, who pleads guilty after being prosecuted by A.D.A. Alexandra Cabot, the same A.D.A. that Neal's character replaced in the fifth season. * The episode title "Ridicule" is a reference to the disbelief that men have to face when they become rape victims. The episode demonstrates this by Detective Elliot Stabler ridiculing rape victim Peter Smith, and the debate during the trial. * Actress CCH Pounder appears for the first time as Defense Attorney Carolyn Maddox. Episode scene cards Category:SVU episodes Category:Crossover episodes